Okay thanks. Some people in the industry I asked, had a look at the program and said even if I put the hard work into it, I will not learn anything good, cause the school itself, does not have good assignments to offer, that would actually be effective.

They said that me being on the crew, is part of the problem, cause I will not get my money's worth out of it. They said that it's not the work I put in, it's the limitations of the assignments you are given. They also told me that the networking I learn will do no good in the industry, cause you only learn how to network in Saskatchewan, Canada, where I live, as oppose to a school that teaches networking on a national or even international level. So I was looking really forward to going, but now after hearing this, I am actually quite discouraged from it. I was ready to put in all the hard work, but if the assignments will not teach me what I need to learn, and if the networking is ineffective, cause it's not on a national scale, I am not sure what decision to make now.

Oh sorry, I didn't mean to make it circular. I just have this fear that no matter how hard I try at the school, it may not do any good if the assignments they give you are ineffective, like I was told.

They said I might as well just fork over the extra 50K, to go Vancouver Film School, since I will learn a lot more there, but then there are others that they say they didn't learn anything good there, and it was all a history lesson mostly. There seems to be no accurate opinions, and everyone is very mixed.

I don't mean to be obtuse, I am just indecisive, and not sure if the school is the best course of action, when other filmmakers say it won't do any good, cause the assignments are ineffective. I am 32.

They said that it was ineffective cause the short films will not be good enough, and that film schools do not make short films that are porfolio worthy, especially when I am only part of the crew on four of them, and have hardly any creative control therefore, or so I was told. I wouldn't procrastinate instead though. I would still do what I was told and make a short film without actors, or make even more than one, hoping it gather more cast and crew in the future with those shorts. I saw one of the shorts from the school done by a student, and it was bad (mostly sound and lighting), so it makes me wonder, maybe they don't have the resources to make ones that are porfolio worthy, but that was only one I saw.

They also said that 6 months is not near enough time to learn anything useful and that I need to go to a film school that takes more years (which means more money), or I can just use my money to make shorts, since 6 months isn't enough time, some said.

Well I don't mean to play anyone against each other, I was just trying to get the most opinions as possible. One filmmaker had a look at it and said that it feels too much like cliff notes, and you are not really getting down and dirty and learning what really matters. I just feel the majority is saying "don't do it!", where as I kind of wanted to do it, but also want to be smart and make the best decision as well.

Well to me that much money is a good chunk, and I grew up with a type of life, where it was not good to waste money, if people are saying it's a waste.

Plus some of the thigns the guy at the school said made me feel like I wasn't being sold on it. It says on the site that "note taking is minimal" for one thing. You think that if it was a good program there would be lots of good notes to take when learning. I also asked him if they go into teaching how to budget your filmmaking much... He said that they can modify the course so I do learn budgeting, but "most students fall asleep when it comes to learning budgeting though". This statement also made me feel like I wasn't being totally sold on the program as well.

So reading things like that made me have second thoughts as well.

What is the benefit of taking it though? I keep hearing why it's a waste but it seems that the benefits are participating as the crew on three shorts as well as directing one of my own, plus making some connections that maybe, and I emphasize MAYBE, might want to work with you again the in the future. But if six months isn't enough time, like I was told, than will those projects be any good, especially since I would just be part of the crew, and have very little control, on the turn out?

So, now you know what to do: make 4 shorts on your own before August.
The poetry assignment is a good start.
Deadline is March 1st. Don't slack and mind you: if you finish a bit earlier, you'll have more time for the other 3.
So you need to have a recorded poem before January 26th and a first cut on February 17th.
Good luck!

PS.
Learning budgeting only makes sense when you know what you need to do to shoot something.
The shorts from my first year as a film student are not in my portfolio. Why? Although great fun to make and being very educational experiences they were first steps. You still seem to believe that is is normal to expect to be explained a few crafts and then you make a masterpiece. That hardly happens.

PPS.
Are you sure you enjoy filmmaking?
Taking it serious is good, but if you can't have fun and enjoy it you are just tormenting yourself.
Try to relax and don't be afraid to experiment and have fun with your 2nd short.
These students had fun with their assignment, although it might not pass your theme standards:

Yeah I enjoy it. Sometimes it can be frustrating when I fail to get pre-production off the ground like I have before, but my first short I really enjoyed making, accept for the last day of shooting and some post production problems... I enjoyed it and had a blast otherwise.

So like any career, I enjoy it on it's good days, but not so much on it's bad days, if that's normal.